OptionsHouse Free Trades Promotion

Online discount stock and options broker OptionsHouse is currently running a promotion which will give each new customer 100 commission-free trades when the new account is opened during the promotion period in November and December 2009.

Here’s what you need to do in order to receive the free trades:

1. Open an OptionsHouse broker account using promotion code FREE100 before December 31, 2009 (you have to use this link to open an account to get the bonus. The sign-up link on their website doesn’t have this offer);
2. Make an initial deposit of $3,000 or more within 45 days after account opening;
3. Receive 100 commission free trades;
4. Use the free trades in 60 days after the account is funded.

Currently the fee charged by OptionsHouse for stock trades is $2.95/trade, so the total value of this promotions is $295, which is pretty nice considering what other brokers used to offer in the past promotions (for example, TradeKing is offering $50 bonus in their current promotion). However, I doubt there are many new customers can take full advantage of this promotion unless he/she is a heavy trader because 100 trades in 60 days are a lot of trades to make in such a short period of time. So on one and, you have this nice promotion that could save you a lot of money on commissions; on the other hand, the time frame will certainly limit the effectiveness of this promotion.

Anyway, since OptionsHouse charges much less fee for stock trades compared to other widely used stock brokers (for example, Zecco $4.50/trade, TradeKing $4.95/trade, Firstrade $6.95/trade and Scottrade $7.00/trade), it is still a good option for small investors who want to lower trading cost, even if it may be impossible to exhaust all the free trades. So it you are considering to have an OptionsHouse account, this is definitely a good opportunity to get started with this promotion.